Obama's America: Gun toting paper pushers now outnumber US Marines

 

Ronald Reagan once famously quipped that nine of the most terrifying words in the English language are "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help." Yet if The Great Communicator were alive today he very well may tack on four more words to his anxiety inducing salutation, "... and I'm heavily armed."

 

As reported by Elizabeth Harrington of the Washington Free Beacon on June 22, 2016 (updated on June 23), it's been revealed that there are actually more armed federal bureaucrats than US Marines. Citing a report issued by a taxpayer watchdog group, it's been uncovered that of the nation's 182,100 Teufelshunde, they are actually outnumbered by 200,000 paper pushers with guns.

 

According to a report entitled the Militarization of America commissioned by the citizens advocacy group "Open the Books," just one of the few but disconcerting totals coming to light are raising eyebrows. Federal agencies have, for example, spent $8.2 million on buckshot; $1.6 million on unmanned aircraft; and a curious $4 million on grenades and grenade launchers.

 

Specifically, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) alone has purchases of guns, ammunition and other military-style equipment from 2006-2014 that's been tallied up at a whopping $10,711,792.17. The good folks at the IRS have been dropping a veritable treasure trove of taxpayer dollars on three different models of .40 caliber Glock pistols, two different models of Remington shotguns, and finally, both a Heckler & Koch and Smith & Wesson versions of the Armalite AR-15 semi-automatic 5.56mm NATO round carbine.

 

Another worrisome expenditure was the almost $5 million allotted to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) from 2006-2014 for "guns, ammunition and military-style equipment." Examples of weaponry and equipment purchased include Bennelli shotguns, Ruger pistols, Tactical PredatOBR 7.62mm Custom Semi-Automatic Rifles, ballistic vests, and various night vision and/or infrared vision devices.

 

As reported by Harrington, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has dropped a cool $3.1 million on "guns, ammo, and equipment, including drones, night vision, camouflage and other deceptive equipment, and body armor." However, EPA spokesman Nick Conger blasted the report.

 

Conger claimed the report "cherry picks information and falsely misrepresents the work of two administrations whose job is to protect public health." The government spokesman further stated, "EPA’s criminal enforcement program has not purchased unmanned aircraft, and the assertions that military-grade weapons are part of its work are false."

 

However, in a June 23 update to Harrington's article, "Adam Andrzejewski, the CEO of Open the Books who wrote the report, pushed back against the EPA’s statement, and provided contract data to back up his claims. 'How can the EPA spokesperson deny hard facts from their own checkbook?' he said."

 

"Alongside our oversight report, OpenTheBooks.com also released a PDF of all raw data. This line-by-line transactional record from the EPA’s own checkbook on page 113 clearly shows that in 2013 and 2014 the EPA purchased tens of thousands of dollars of ‘Unmanned Aircraft’ from Bergen RC Helicopters Inc which on a net basis amounted to approximately $34,000."

 

As far as the feds themselves are concerned, the Department of Justice issued a report in 2012 that was widely ignored by the American media entitled Federal Law Enforcement Officers, 2008. According to the DoJ study, federal agencies employing 250 or more full-time personnel with arrest and firearm authority are as follows:

 

Federal agencies employing fewer than 250 full-time personnel with arrest and firearm authority are as follows:

 

Offices of inspectors general employing full-time personnel with arrest and firearm authority are as follows: